


As Lovers Go

by Beltenebra



Category: Johnny's Entertainment, Kanjani8 (Band)
Genre: First Kiss, Fluff, Frottage, Getting Together, Humor, Light Angst, M/M, Meddling Kids, but not their kids, mild jealousy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-02
Updated: 2016-12-02
Packaged: 2018-09-06 02:06:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8730550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Beltenebra/pseuds/Beltenebra
Summary: Maru and Ohkura find themselves falling, and manage to pick each other up.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Kanjani8 Exchange 2009

"They're going to send us to deal with a bunch of five year old kids for an _entire day_?" Ohkura's voice was tinged with panic.

Maruyama hid his snicker behind a cough as their assistant director informed Ohkura that 'yes, that was their assignment', 'no he can't swap out for anyone else', 'yes, he had to actually interact with the children' and 'did he need to speak more slowly or use smaller words, because Ohkura-kun didn't seem to be grasping the concept'.

Maru grinned at their AD and cheerfully clapped a wide-eyed Ohkura on the shoulder. "I think Tacchon and I will manage just fine. By the end of the day, I'm sure we'll be great friends with the kids!" He gave Ohkura an amused side-long glance, "Isn't that right, Tacchon?"

Ohkura clamped his lips shut and shook his head vehemently but the director had already bid them goodnight and was halfway across the studio. Maru rounded on the younger man and caroled, "See you tomorrow morning, Tacchon. Don't worry, it's going to be fun!"

In the now-empty studio Ohkura narrowed his eyes and considered his options. Faking his own death was doable but they probably wouldn't let him finish the summer concert tour afterward, faking an illness would require him looking and sounding gross, not to mention doing some research to find a serious condition he could contract overnight. It wouldn't make sense to do as much work as the work he was trying to avoid.

Kids, erg. Well, at least they weren't sending him in alone. Or with Subaru for that matter. As much as he loved the shorter man, Subaru was probably the only member less suited to dealing with a pack of children than he was. But Maru could handle it. He left the studio resolved to just make Maru do all of the actual work.

The next day. confronted with twenty pairs of small, staring eyes, Ohkura was feeling a little less confident.

"Maru!" he hissed in his companion's ear. "What do I do? They're _looking_ at me."

Maru looked at him with an expression that Ohkura interpreted as fond disbelief. "It's easy, you start by introducing yourself. Like this!" He turned to the kids with a bright grin and a big wave, "Hi, everyone! I'm Maru-oniisan and this is Ohkura-oniisan and we're here to play with you today!"

One of the boys piped up, pointing a chubby finger at Maru, "Hey! I saw you on TV. You know all kinds of good songs."

Maru clapped his hands together and kneeled down to address the kids, "That's right! Should we sing one now? Who knows the firefly catching song?" The children chorused their approval and Maru lead them through the song, complete with goofy hand motions while Ohkura looked on in slightly nervous amusement.

He spent the majority of the day lurking around the edges of the group, answering questions if the children asked him but mostly keeping to himself. He admired the natural ease with which Maru interacted with the kids. He seemed really happy to chatter away with them, to roll around on the ground playing games, the kids brought out a carefree side of him that he didn't show often, not even with Eito. Ohkura supposed it was because the kids didn't care what he looked like, if he was an idol. They only cared that he thought up interesting games to play.

Ohkura was sitting off to the side watching Maru organize everyone for relay races when one of the little girls came up and plopped down next to him.

"You're not very good at playing, are you." She didn't frame it as a question.

"I'm just..." He tried to think of a way to tell her that kids really kind of freaked him out, "shy."

The girl raised an eyebrow at him, giving him a look that was far too astute for Ohkura's taste.

"So if you don't want to play, why are you here? Can't you do _anything_ fun?"

Ohkura scowled back at her. "It's for my job! And I _can so_ have fun."

He fleetingly considered the ridiculousness of arguing with a five-year-old but dismissed it as necessary when she put her hands on her hips and jutted her chin out.

"Prove it."

Ohkura wracked his brain for something that a little girl might consider fun that would require the least amount of effort on his part. He looked to his left and noticed a thick stand of grass peppered with small daisies. Right. He pulled up a bunch of flowers and dumped them in the girl's lap. He plucked two of them from the pile and knotted them together.

"I can do this!" He said triumphantly as he took a few more flowers and started to lengthen the chain." He smirked down at the girl who looked a little mollified but not nearly as impressed as he thought she should be. He took a few more and put them in her hands, showing her again how he tied them. "See, like this."

She imitated his actions and within minutes they both had respectable strings of flowers. Ohkura looked back down at her, her face was screwed up in a little frown of concentration and he thought that _maybe_ she could be kind of cute, when she was keeping quiet anyway. Ohkura fashioned his chain into a circle and dropped it on top of her dark pigtails.

She looked up at him and nodded, "I guess you aren't _totally_ useless." Ohkura felt he was entirely justified in sticking his tongue out at her.

"Ohkura-oniisan?"

"Yes...?"

"Mari." She supplied instantly.

"Mari-chan."

She nodded and continued looking a little less sure of herself than before. "Do you spend a lot of time with Maru-oniisan?"

Ohkura just sighed, "Yep. Sometimes I think too much time."

"Does he have someone he likes, like a girlfriend?"

He squashed the immediate desire to reply 'he doesn't need a girlfriend, he has _us_ '. Where did _that_ come from? Instead he settled for a simple, "Nope."

"Oh, because he's really nice. He's handsome and fun and has a nice smile." Her small, dark eyes were perfectly serious as she looked up Ohkura. "He is _exactly_ the kind of boy girls want to marry."

He wasn't sure exactly how to respond to that. He watched Maru for a minute, watched him smile in delight, pull funny faces to make the kids laugh, heard his infectious chuckle and his encouraging cheers drift across the field as the kids ran races. He found himself thinking that Maru was the kind of person that drew others to him, he _was_ handsome, but in a warm and approachable way. The kind of person you couldn't watch without wanting to smile. Throw in some impressive musical talent and a quirky sense of humor and, really, you had a very attractive package. Maru chose just that moment to raise his head and lock eyes with Ohkura. His grin was fond and Ohkura couldn't help but return his little wave, feeling his own mouth curl up in response. The more he thought about it, the more undeniable Mari-chan's assertion seemed to be. If he were a girl, he would want to marry Maru too.

Rather than say any of these things out loud, he pouted down at her, "What about me!"

She gave him an eloquent look of disbelief, "You're very good looking, but kind of whiny."

"She's got you pegged, Tacchon." Ohkura frowned up at Maru, who just crouched down in front of Mari-chan. The girl seemed to have gone from bossy to completely shy in the blink of an eye and she peeked up at Maru from beneath the fringe of her bangs.

"It's time to gather around for one last song, Mari-chan. We have to go soon." He held out a hand and she took it, her cheeks pink and smile wide. Maru smiled and held out his other hand to Ohkura, pulling him to his feet. "You too, Tacchon."

Ohkura reached out to grab Mari-chan's other hand and they swung her between them as they ambled across the field, her silvery giggles were contagious. Maru grinned at him and he felt his chest tighten, for the first time that day he felt like he was doing something right.

They said goodbye to the kids and piled into the van to head back to the studio. As soon as their butts hit the seat Ohkura was out like a light, slumped over with an arm slung around Maru's waist and his head on Maru's shoulder, snoring softly.

Maru smiled softly at the top of Ohkura's head and reached a hand up to brush the younger man's hair off his forehead. He had been worried that Ohkura was going to have a hard time today. He knew the younger man was sometimes shy and hid it behind a bratty exterior. It took a lot of prodding on his part but eventually Ohkura had warmed up to the kids. When he looked across the field to see Ohkura making daisy chains with one of the little girls he felt his heart swell with pride and maybe something else, something warmer.

He looked down at Ohkura's sleeping face and tried to pinpoint his feelings but all he could think was 'so cute!'. He must have shifted unconsciously because Ohkura whined low in his throat and snuggled closer, pinning his pillow in place. When Maru caught himself thinking that he shouldn't lean down and kiss Ohkura's sleepy pout because he didn't want to wake him up, he knew he was in trouble.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Maru was in trouble, the first person he went to was Hina. But he wasn't sure Hina was going to be able to help this time. As he explained his predicament, Hina's eyebrows crept higher and higher.

"Let me get this straight, you spent the whole day dragging Tacchon around kicking and screaming, forcing him to do work and you came back with a crush?"

Hadn't he just said as much? "Well... yeah."

Hina looked at him like he couldn't possibly be hearing Maru correctly. "Because Tacchon was 'so cute'."

Maru just nodded, "Yep."

Hina still looked dubious. "He's always whiny and obnoxious when he's working with me." He turned to Yoko for back-up, "Remember the time I had to _physically haul_ his ass up a mountain?"

Maru refrained from voicing any of the thoughts that crossed his mind at the mention of Ohkura's ass. He had a feeling that Hina wasn't in the appropriate frame of mind to appreciate them. "He _was_ whiny and obnoxious the whole time."

Hina looked expectant, like he was waiting for Maru to put two and two together and arrive at the obvious conclusion.

Maru shrugged, "I just thought it was cute." 

The older man threw his hands up with an exasperated sigh. "Are you _sure_ none of those kids hit you over the head with a rock?"

Yoko just smiled and reached up to pat Maru on the head, "Clearly our friend is suffering from some kind of brain damage." 

Hina just scrunched his nose and crossed his arms over his chest muttering, "I don't know how you can tell the difference." 

Yoko chimed in with a lecherous grin and a few eyebrow wiggles for good measure, "I think you should totally go for it! Maybe the application of regular sex will make Tacchon less whiny?"

Hina shook his head, "No, it will just make him _more_ smug."

Maru could tell that his friends were clearly missing the point. "But I like Tacchon the way he is _now_." 'Hence the crush.' he added mentally.

Hina and Yoko exchanged a significant look. Yoko lifted an eyebrow, Hina shrugged; Yoko tilted his head and answered with a shrug of his own. Finally Yoko turned back to Maru with his trademark grin and a clap of his hands. "Right! Clearly, something must be done."

"You don't need to do anything! Don't worry about it. In fact, forget I ever mentioned it. Really, don't trouble yourselves!" Maru exhaled in a rush. Maybe he wasn't exactly sure what to do about these feelings yet but he _did_ know that it probably wasn't wise to get Yoko involved. He could figure things out on his own. Maybe it would all work out without him having to do anything. Maybe this was a passing fancy and it would just fade in a few weeks. 'Yeah, and maybe,' his brain supplied ever so helpfully, 'Ryo will stop being grumpy and Uchi will shave his head and pigs will fly'.

He sighed. Maybe not.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ohkura tucked his hair behind his ear and craned his neck to pillow his phone on his shoulder. He probably could have talked to one of the other members about this but some twinge in his gut told him he should get an outside opinion. "He's been acting weird lately."

"Erm..."

"Weird for him.” Ohkura clarified. “So we were all out at dinner-"

He was stopped by the rather distracting noises of tinkly crystal music and victorious sounding beeping from the other end of the line.

"Hey, is that Zelda? Are you even listening to me?"

A chuckle, "Dude, I can totally score the princess and solve your problems at the same time. Yeah, dinner. With your group. Kanjani ate, I'm with you."

Ohkura rolled his eyes, that one didn't even deserve a response.

"So we're all eating yakiniku and usually I have to fight tooth and nail with the rest of them to get the best pieces of beef and the vegetables I like, right?"

An amused snort, "Yeah, I've seen you guys eat all together. Sometimes it resembles feeding time at the zoo."

Ohkura would dearly love to be able to refute that one. Instead, he continued. "But this time Maruyama keeps slipping the good stuff onto my plate when he thinks I'm not looking. And he kept doing it! During dessert, he ended up sneaking me almost all of Ryo-chan's fried banana."

"Probably because he finds you appealing."

He growled, "Must you?"

He can hear the completely unapologetic smile in the response, "I really think I must. But I was serious; it's the kind of thing you would do for someone you have a crush on. It's cute!"

"A what!"

"A crush. Really, that didn't occur to you?"

"Huh. Enjoy your game, I've gotta go."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Later Ryo would swear it was just a little costume malfunction. Honestly, he was standing in the hallway minding his own business and cursing at the ridiculous strip of fringe on his sleeve that had gotten itself inextricably tangled in the industrial strength zipper of his pants. They were due back on in ten minutes; he was running out of time. When Ohkura rounded the corner Ryo's head shot up and he gave him a winning smile. "Tacchon, perfect! You need to help me get my pants open."

Ohkura's mouth curled up and he waggled his eyebrows as he slouched over. "And here I thought you were perfectly adept at doing it yourself. Didn't we graduate you to big boy pants?"

Ryo just rolled his eyes. "Very funny. You can make all the cracks you want as long as you also get over here and help."

On the one hand, he was gratified to see that Ohkura was having nearly as much trouble as he had with the zipper. On the other hand, they had to be back on stage in about ten minutes.

"These pants are too tight, Ryo-chan." Ohkura griped as he wrestled with the fastener. "Here," He pushed Ryo's shoulders back against the wall and pulled his hips forward so he could lean down closer to the action.

Ryo wasn't really paying very much attention to anything other than the time so he was justifiably confused when he heard a low growl. He looked up to find Maruyama striding towards them, face twisted in an unusually dark scowl. He reached them just as Ohkura crowed triumphantly, "Got it! Take _that_ pants!" and yanked the zipper down so Ryo could pull the fringe free.

Ryo felt his eyes go wide as Maru clapped a hand on Ohkura's shoulder yanking him back and narrowing his eyes at Ryo. Before the shorter man could react Maru had wrenched open the door of one of the storage lockers lining the corridor, shoved him back into it, and slammed the door shut. He pounded back on the door, like that would do any good. "Hey! But I wasn't- We weren't Hey!" His brain tacked on the additional question, 'And why would it matter if we _were_?' but he kept that one to himself.

There was no response save Ohkura's breathless laughter and something that was probably the taller man slapping his knee in amusement. He could hear Maru stomping off down the hallway presumably with Ohkura in tow because the other man's hysterical laughter seemed to be getting farther away.

Great. Well now his best bet was to continue being noisy in the hopes that someone came and let him out. Preferably a member of the staff so he didn't have to endure any jackass comments about 'banging away in the dark, by himself'.

"Where is that _noise_ coming from?"

"Hina! Hina, is that you?" Finally, someone _useful_.

"Ryo-chan? Arg! What the hell is going _on_ around here!"

He could nearly see the exasperation on Hina' face. But it was dark in here and he wasn't getting any less cramped. He quirked an eyebrow and responded dryly, "I'm in a locker. That's the extent of my knowledge."

Hina heaved a wearied sigh and opened the locker to glare at him while Ryo squinted. "What were you thinking? We have four minutes to be on stage and in place."

"Trust me, I'm aware! Do you think I shut myself into a locker on purpose? Blame Maruyama. And Ohkura." he added for good measure. The lanky, unhelpful moron deserved to get in trouble.

"Of course. We _really_ need to do something about this." Hina looked down, and clicked his tongue in disapproval. "At least do up your pants before you go out there, Ryo."

Hina stalked off leaving Ryo to stare at his retreating back in disbelief. "Do something about _what_?!"

Ryo shook his head and sighed. You go back to Tokyo for three lousy weeks and the whole place falls apart. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He could try to blame the perfect summer afternoon. The temperature was comfortably warm but not too hot; the sunlight was streaming in through the studio window, pooling in golden squares on the worn wood floor; the faint scent of flowers and some unnamed street food was wafting in on the very slight breeze. They were here for a songwriting and brainstorming session, one of their favorite ways to officially spend time together. So far it was just Yoko over at the table in the corner, scribbling things on a yellow legal pad and pausing occasionally to scratch them back out, and himself lazing on the battered old sofa. And Ohkura of course.

Ohkura was sitting right next to him and besides being as comfortable as he could possibly be, he swore that every nerve in his body was aware of the other man's presence, his skin tingled pleasantly in a long line from shoulder to knee. The sofa was old and missing some springs so it tended to sag in the middle, pushing anyone who was sitting on it to the center. They had refused to let the staff replace the couch despite the hideous shade of orange and the worn fabric. They claimed it was lucky and besides, the way they tended to all pile onto the same pieces of furniture, they would probably break a new one in short order.

Today Maru was hyper-aware of the way the couch forced him and Ohkura to slump comfortably against each other, their shoulders bumping companionably as the drummer tapped out a rhythm on his thighs. Maru let his head flop over to rest on that smooth shoulder and closed his eyes for a few minutes to wait for the others. He was still drifting when Ohkura turned his head to ask him a question. He came awake with a sleepy hum and found Ohkura's dark eyes, framed by long lashes, mere centimeters from his. Ohkura looked expectant and Maru realized, still fuzzy, that he has no idea what the other man had said so he looked at his lips. They were also startlingly close and it seemed like the most natural thing in the world to let his eyes drift closed again and tilt his chin up just so to press his mouth to those beautiful lips.

The kiss was soft and warm and tingly and very brief. Immediately he felt Ohkura's entire body tense up, he pulled back to see the other man's eyes open wide, probably in shock. He was actually glad that he seemed to be choking on his own breath because the only coherent thought in his head was, _Oh, shit!_ , and he's pretty sure there aren't many ways for that to be taken well. But before he could get his voice back and say something that wasn't completely uncomplimentary Ohkura had shot up off the couch and fled the room muttering something that sounded like 'going to get some food, be right back'. 

He just stared at the open door for a few seconds wondering what possessed him when Yoko's voice broke through his reverie, quiet and understanding although not without a warmer note of gentle amusement. "So, I take it you haven't actually _told_ him that you like him yet."

Yoko sighed at the baleful expression Maru shot him right before he leaned over to bury his head in crossed arms. Yoko plopped himself down and patted his back, "Come on, he's not going to hate you forever." Maru snorted his skepticism. "It's us, he won't hate you. He'll probably be a little freaked out for a while. He might be a little skittish, but he won't _hate_ you."

"Did he tell him?" Hina's voice from the doorway announced his arrival. "I saw Tacchon outside. Ever seen someone look all twitchy and nervous while eating ice cream? It's _really_ odd." 

Maru heaved himself back against the couch and flung an arm over his eyes with a blustery sigh, "Worse! I kissed him without saying anything at all. And now he's going to hate me _forever_." He knew he sounded whiny; he was using his overly melodramatic voice and everything. Somehow, it kept it from feeling too real.

"Who could possibly hate Maru?" A tremulous voice piped up and Maru opened his eyes to see Yassu right in his face, brow furrowed in concern and Subaru hovering just over his shoulder looking equally worried.

"Nobody hates Maru." Ryo grouched from the doorway followed by Ohkura who looked a little sheepish, but not mad. "Come on people, let's stop lazing around and get to work!"

"But, Ryo-chan," Yassu pointed out reasonably, "We do our best work lazing around."

"Fair enough. Let's get to it then."

They settled in to write. Ohkura interacted with him almost normally except that it seemed like he couldn't exactly look him in the eye. Despite the emotional pitfalls, the session was very productive. Maru just kept all the pages he was filling up with lyrics about heartbreak to himself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So, things have gotten weirder."

"Is Maru-kun still trying to fatten you up? Because it's a totally valid tactic, I know all about your relationship with food. I've always thought that you'd go off with the first stranger to approach you with really good candy."

Ohkura curbed the desire to sulk at his friend, "No, this time it's serious. He kind of... kissed me."

"I _told_ you he liked you. So, How was it?"

That was not the reaction Ohkura had expected. "What?"

His response was full of fond exasperation, like he was sure Ohkura was missing the point here. "The kiss, stupid. How was it?"

"Uh, ok I guess? I kind of... panicked. You don't sound surprised."

He responded with a chuckle, "Why would I be? I told you he has a crush on you. That's what people with crushes _do_. They find ways to express their affection. A 'crushing blow' if you will." He paused to giggle at his own joke before concluding, "It's been a while since you really liked someone, huh."

He continued, his voice instantly softer and maybe a tiny bit worried, "I hope I didn't completely put you off guys all those years ago, Tacchon."

He was right, it _had_ been a while since Ohkura had someone around he felt at all attached to beyond the bonds of familiarity and friendship. He realized that he was kind of a shy person by nature; he kept a lot of his private life to himself. He had learned early on in his career that it was incredibly difficult to form any kind of lasting attachment with girls, especially ones outside the business. While he was on good terms with most of the actresses he had worked with, he never felt the compulsion to spend any kind of quality time with any of them. It was easy to pick up girls, to flirt with them, to kiss them and use them to relieve his sexual frustration. But the second they wanted to get to know him beyond his reputation he dropped them. They made too many demands on his life; they wanted promises that he was never willing to make because he didn't want to be the kind of man who broke his promises.

When he first thought that he might want something more, something like a sweetheart or a lover, the first people he thought of were his co-workers. He spent the better part of his puberty in the jimusho; he knew what went on behind closed dressing room doors. And when he thought about it, it seemed like the perfect arrangement. It was a whole collection of people that knew you would usually be busy, who wouldn't demand any public expressions of affection, who weren't at all dazzled or threatened by what you did for living. And he couldn't deny that more than a few of his fellow idols were pretty attractive.

The first person he can remember having an honest-to-god crush on was Junno. It felt natural, they spent a lot of their free time together, they were close, and he always felt at ease with Junno. It had been easier than he thought to tell him, he remembered the heat of his cheeks when he told Junno that he thought he might really like him, but he hadn't been nervous or scared.

Junno had been kind of surprised, but to his credit he wasn't offended or wierded out at all. He just cocked his head and regarded Ohkura with a speculative smile. He had been honest, Ohkura remembered him saying right away that he was pretty sure he didn't think of men that way but for Ohkura, he would be willing to check and make sure. Ohkura's sputtered apologies had died on his lips when Junno had put his hands on Ohkura's shoulders and leaned forward to press their mouths together.

It had been sweet and full of affection, but Ohkura could tell even before Junno pulled away and Ohkura could see the apology in his eyes that it wasn't going to work. Before Ohkura could bury his disappointment and laugh the whole situation away Junno gathered him to his chest and pressed Ohkura's cheek down against his shoulder. He had just held on and let Ohkura hide his sniffles. He had apologized and Ohkura knew he really meant it when he had said that he was so sorry, believed him when he said he wished things could be different, wished that he could make Ohkura smile.

Ohkura knew that it was best this way. Better that he had mentioned it before his feelings had really developed, before it had the potential to ruin their friendship. After a few brief minutes of mourning something that would never be, Ohkura had pulled away and given Junno a slightly watery, but genuine smile. He asked Junno if they could still be friends, Junno gave him a look like he was offended that not-friends was even an option to be considered. They had just smiled and gone right back to chasing each other down Rainbow Road. Ohkura vividly remembered realizing then what a good friend Junno was.

Still was a good friend as a matter of fact. Ohkura shook off his memories and reassured him. "No, it's not that. I think I was just startled. I wasn't expecting it."

"Have you ever thought about Maru-kun in that way before?"

Ohkura hummed softly in his throat, unsure how exactly he wanted to answer this. "Maybe?"

Junno just laughed at him. "Sounds to me like you have and you just don't want to admit it."

Ohkura took a second to think about his recent encounters with Maru. He remembered feeling irrationally irritated when Maru devoted so much of his time and energy to make a bunch of kids he had only just met happy. He remembered Maru's delighted smile at a job well done making him smile in turn. Remembered Maru's reaction to Ryo and realizing that he might be _jealous_ of the shorter man and that giving him a thrill low in the pit of his stomach that he didn't take the time to properly acknowledge. Remembering the feeling of Maru's lips pressed against his, gentle and warm, he feels himself blush just sitting here thinking about it, he realizes that one of his hands has drifted up to smooth over his lips. Hmmm.

Junno's voice brought him back, teasing "You're thinking about him right now aren't you?"

"Maybe." Ohkura thought that Junno might be enjoying this situation just a bit more than was necessary.

"You're going to have to talk to him about it, Tacchon. Especially if you want him to kiss you again. Which I think you do."

Ohkura frowned at the phone but couldn't honestly disagree. "Well, I'll talk to him, but I can't promise anything else."

"I just want you to be happy, even if it means we can't go cruising for chicks anymore."

Ohkura rolled his eyes even though he knew Junno couldn't see it. "I _know_ you don't need my help in that department." 

"True, but it is more fun! Oops, gotta go. Uepi is giving me one of those looks, you know one of those 'your break has been over for ten minutes now and don't think that I didn't know you were hiding in the bathroom on purpose' looks."

"Hey, thanks for the advice. You've actually been really helpful."

He got another full-throated laugh, "Don't sound so surprised! I'm smarter than I look, you know. Going now before my fearless leader bodily injures me! Hey, good luck! Tell me all about it later, ok?"

Ohkura could hear the leer in his voice and ignored it. "Good _bye_ , Junno." He ended the call with a decisive click. Well that conversation had been conclusive. Guess it was time to talk to Maru and get everything settled, one way or another.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was a few days before Ohkura had the time to corner Maru for a talk. Things had pretty much returned to normal between them and when he approached Maru to ask him if he could come over later to talk, the other man's smile was very nearly his usual winning grin. It was only if you knew what you were looking for that you could tell it was a bit strained around the edges. It was all Ohkura could do to keep himself from stomping his foot and shouting 'Not fair! You can't be having second thoughts now. You kissed me and I won't let you change your mind!'. This was one situation in which throwing a temper tantrum was not going to help. Probably.

The evening was lovely, clear and on the cool side, as he made his way over to Maru's apartment. But Ohkura was in no mood to appreciate the quiet; his mind was filled with scraps of potential conversations. He just needed to find the right words that would hopefully lead to fewer words and more kisses.

'So, I hear you have a crush on me.' Based on what? Some minor changes in Maru's behavior, one kiss, and Junno's (Junno, who is _straight_ ) analysis. Oh, and my own wishful thinking of course. That was no good.

'You're easy and I'm difficult, I figure together we even each other out.' But that wasn't quite what he meant either and while Maru was generally an understanding guy, Ohkura was pretty sure he shouldn't just call him easy and expect him to know it was a compliment.

'I'm not as straight as everyone seems to think I am. Kiss me.' Ohkura shook his head and dismissed that one outright.

Before he knew it, he found himself at the door of Maru's apartment. The other man opened the door with another soft, slightly off-kilter smile and Ohkura wondered if he _should_ just grab the man and kiss him into submission. Probably best to get out of the hallway at least.

Then they were standing in the living room and Maru was looking at him like he really wasn't sure what he should be doing and Ohkura was tired of this tension, angry that the easy and comfortable atmosphere between them was gone. It was time to do something, anything to set things in motion. He tried to clear the small frown from his features but he's sure he must still have looked kind of upset; he forged ahead anyway.

"So, about the other day..." Maru just raised an eyebrow at him, he cleared his throat nervously, "About the kiss-"

"I won't take it back." Maru's response was immediate and vehement. Ohkura's eyes snapped up to meet Maru's and he couldn't look away. "I hate that it might have ruined our friendship, that it might hurt the group dynamic, that you might not forgive me... but I meant it. I wanted you to know that, that kiss belongs to you whether you want it or not, and I won't take it back." Maru's voice carried nothing but conviction, his gaze was tender and fierce and Ohkura could feel his cheeks flush as he struggled to find the words to respond.

"That's fine." is what came out, but that was wrong. Well, not wrong exactly, but not enough. It didn't convey a fraction of the emotions that threatened to overwhelm him. Rather than waste time finding the right words, Ohkura trusted his actions to speak loudly enough for him. He grabbed Maru's shoulders, maybe a little more roughly than he intended, he reflected as the other man's eyes widened, and pulled him in close enough to lower his head the few centimeters separating their mouths.

His eyes fell closed immediately and he kept the pressure of his lips on Maru's gentle, trying to communicate his feelings through touch alone. He poured his affection, nervousness, and longing into the kiss, and after a single stunned second, his heart lept because Maru was kissing him back. Ohkura knew he would never be able to explain exactly how kissing Maru was unlike kissing any of the other people he had been with. The closest he could get would be to say it was _more_. More sensation, more joy, more desire.

His hands were still resting on Maru's shoulders but when Maru stepped closer Ohkura took the opportunity to wrap his arms around the shorter man. He could feel Maru's hands come up automatically to clench the material at the small of his back. When one of those strong, clever hands crept underneath his shirt to slide tantalizingly across the base of his spine Ohkura let out a small startled moan and Maru took the opportunity to deepen the kiss, opening his mouth under Ohkura's and sliding their tongues together.

Ohkura nearly felt his knees buckle as Maru's tongue invaded his mouth, hot and possessive. He fought fire with fire and slid his hands down Maru's back and up under his shirt, tracing the curve of his spine and taking the shirt with him. Maru was making tiny, helpless sounds into Ohkura's mouth that were going straight to his groin. He pulled away long enough to whip Maru's shirt off and when he paused to meet Maru's eyes he felt the heat he saw there like a physical jolt. He tried to stealthily maneuver them back towards the couch.

Maru must have known exactly what he was doing because he had them spun around and Ohkura laid out on the couch in seconds. Ohkura spared a moment to be relieved that at least one of them seemed to know what he was doing. Maru was hovering above him on hands and knees and for some reason he has _stopped kissing_ him, which was just unacceptable. Ohkura tilted his head up to capture those lips again but Maru pushed him back down. He actually looked concerned and Ohkura blinked up at him, trying to clear the haze of desire to find out what was wrong.

Maru's hair was mussed, his cheeks flushed, and he was panting just a bit. Ohkura forced himself to pay more attention to what Maru was saying and less to the fact that he looked so damned gorgeous. The anxious undertone in Maru's voice helped him concentrate. "Tacchon, I think that before we do anything else you should stop and think about this. I mean, I know that you weren't exactly okay with me kissing you the other day. I just want you to be sure that this is what you want. I don't want to push you into anything..."

This time Ohkura didn't even bother to filter his words through his brain, he simply let them flow, future humiliation be damned. "I haven't stopped thinking about it since it happened. I mean, in a good way. And I was thinking about you before then too. I really was just surprised. I think I'm crazy about you and if you tell me to wait any longer, I might die."

It was Maru's turn to look surprised. But he also looked pleased, which was the important bit. "Well that was pretty unequivocal."

Ohkura pouted up at him and didn't bother to conceal the whine in his voice as he tugged at Maru's hair. "Is that enough to get you to kiss me again?" Not that it mattered really; he pulled Maru back down without waiting for an answer. And this time he wrapped a leg around the other man's waist to drag him down all the way. Ohkura let his legs fall open and suddenly they were pressed together from neck to knee. They both groaned into the kiss as their hard cocks rubbed through their pants.

Maru gasped and pulled his mouth away from Ohkura's, sliding his lips down Ohkura's neck. Of course Ohkura approved this action, turning his head to the side and tipping his chin up to provide better access. "Tacchon," Maru panted breathlessly in his ear as they ground their hips desperately into each other, "I can't- I'm not going to able to stop in a minute so-"

"If you stop now, Ryuhei, I _will_ kill you. I know where you live." Ohkura managed to gasp out as coherently as he could while Maru was nibbling his earlobe.

"Do you at least want to slow down and do this properly?"

All Ohkura knew was that Maru had his shirt off but otherwise was mostly clothed, he was _completely_ clothed, all they were doing was kissing and writhing together on the couch and already it was the best sex he had ever had. "No. Need you, Ryuhei. Can't wait, just like this." He punctuated his statements with thrusts of his hips and Maru finally got the picture. They managed to slide even closer together, both of them wrapping their arms around each other tight. Ohkura had an arm around Maru's waist, Maru had one hand in his hair and the other on his ass, but he wasn't really sure where he ended and Maru began anymore. And if this is what passion felt like when your heart was engaged as well as your libido, well then he was just plain ruined for one-night stands.

They managed to find a rhythm that worked for both of them and Ohkura could tell by the way his whole body burned like his veins were full of fire that it was going to be a matter of moments. Apparently Maru felt the same because Ohkura could already feel him trembling beneath his hands, could feel the muscles jumping in his back and when his mouth crashed into Ohkura's for a searing kiss he knew Maru was gone, coming apart at the seams. One more twist of his hips and Ohkura couldn't help but follow him, the friction overwhelming him and he could feel his dick pulsing, coming hard enough to make him see stars.

Maru buried his head in Ohkura's neck and they just clung to each other as they caught their breath. After a few moments, Maru summoned up enough strength to raise his head and smile hazily at Ohkura who smiled back without hesitation. "While there was nothing about that that wasn't _completely_ awesome," Maru started, "I feel kind of gross. You know, in the pants area. I think we should get cleaned up."

Ohkura nodded sleepily, "And then what?"

Maru leaned forward to nuzzle his nose, "We go to bed of course. I don't know about you, but I find emotional confessions followed by mind blowing orgasms pretty exhausting."

"I find just about everything exhausting." Ohkura replied honestly.

Maru dropped his head back down onto Ohkura's shoulder and laughed, a deep belly laugh that was hard enough to shake the whole couch. Ohkura smiled to hear it and couldn't help but feel like he'd won some sort of prize.

A few minutes later they got up and shuffled off to Maru's bedroom, peeled off their clothes, and cleaned up enough to fall into Maru's exceedingly comfortable bed. Maru gave him a kiss and an accompanying smile so sweet you could have glazed pastries with it and Ohkura got comfortable, positioning Maru on his back so Ohkura could rest his head on Maru's strong shoulder and sling an arm across his chest.

"Just so you know," Ohkura muttered sleepily "if this works out, you know, for the long run, we're not getting kids. You'll have to content yourself with playing with Ryo-chan or Uchi-kun's brats."

Maru hummed what Ohkura chose to interpret as agreement and tightened his arms around Ohkura's waist.

"Well..." the younger man amended softly, "maybe a little girl would be okay."

Maru hid his grin in Ohkura's hair, confident in his ability to change Ohkura's mind.


End file.
